#micetro

Espetáculo Resta UM! Fotos de Paulo Feitosa! Direção de Daniel Nascimento (Barbixas) e Andrei Moscheto (Antropofocus). Outubro de 2019, em comemoração aos 19 anos do Antropofocus, Andrei e Daniel realizaram mais uma edição desse formato de impro inspirado no Micetro do Keith Johnstone! 

Ficha técnica:

DIRETORES: Andrei Moscheto Daniel Nascimento

MÚSICO: Andrés Giraldo

ILUMINADOR: Paulo Rosa

Zebbler Encanti Experience - Perceptronium (Micetro) & Casual Magic Remix

my favorite off of Zebbler Encanti’s Psychic Projections Remix Album “ReFreak”

Okay. I just want to say a little more specifically on this format because it's creating a bit of discussion and I want to clarify my position.

I am not anti-Maestro, nor anti-competition. "Competitive" improvisation is really accessible for the audience. It sells tickets, which means more opportunities to put other work on. The Maestro format gets you doing a bunch of things you might not normally do: playing handles you might not otherwise play with people you might not otherwise play with. A good Maestro director will try to make you shine by directing you to play scenes that suit your style, or at least the style you are playing tonight (with strangers, this can only get better and more specific as the night progresses).

I have not always enjoyed Maestro. After years of getting eliminated at the first or second hurdle, I decided to stop giving a shit about whether I made it through or not, and start playing each scene I was in as if it was the last scene I'd get to do that night. Immediately my scenes started getting higher scores and I started getting more play time and the only way that's going to stop is if I start thinking "okay great now I can win Maestro".

I try to be genuinely happy for the people who make it through when I don't. For whatever reason, they are having a better night than I am. What kind of shitty improvisor would I be if I spent the rest of the show resenting the fact that the audience was getting a good show from improvisors who were having a hot night? I will cheer for them. I will celebrate their success without playing the scene in my head with myself in the lead. At the end of the night we will rush the stage and hold our champion aloft because they fucking deserve it, but tomorrow that might be me, and wouldn't I like to feel that love too?

Elimination is not failure. The audience and the judges and the MC eliminate players because that is how they get to the end of the show, not because they hate you. So tonight: that is your role. And on stage you can show disappointment, or mischief, or relief, or whatever your "character" is feeling, but inside, you, the improvisor, know that it's your role to support the show, and right now the way to play that role is to give focus to the remaining players, however unfair or random that might appear. If you are constantly finding yourself cut early on, then examine why. Ask for notes from the directors on why they felt your scenes received low scores. All the rules of good improv apply here in both macro- and microcosm (that is, at the level of the show and the level of the scene), and maybe you'll find, like I did, that you're too focused on being good enough for the next scene that you're not being in the scene you're in.

If you're eliminated, sit the fuck down. Some companies will be pretty encouraging of cross-overs and "support" play from eliminated players. This should never be the decision of the players, who, having been eliminated, will be looking for more stage time, not for ways to support the scene. As the show progresses, having fewer bodies on stage will necessarily make the scenes harder for the remaining performers. This is called "moving up the curve", and if you are unfamiliar with this concept, please stop selling tickets to your shows. I feel so strongly about this. Enforcing the separation between the eliminated players and the players still in the game is, in my experience, the only real way to cultivate an attitude of genuine, good-natured support for the remainder of the show. Very occasionally a director might decide that one or more eliminated players are needed on stage (for example, to fill out a crowd scene). This is always the sole prerogative of the director(s), and not a right of the performers. If the audience eliminates you and you come back on stage regardless, even for the most altruistic and supportive of reasons, you are telling them that their input isn't valued, and undermining the nature of an improv show. The only people in a position to make a call on that are the directors and the MC.

The best shows are rigged. Or, rather, to create the best show, don't be afraid to rig it. If you know what the night needs right now is players 8 and 3 in a duet because they are the strongest singers, then wow! surprise! those are the numbers you just pulled out. If you want to eliminate 3 players, but 5 players are tied, just make a call. The audience aren't sitting there with score cards in their heads. I can almost guarantee the players are, but guess what? You're doing what you're doing for the show, not for individual players.

The audience doesn't hate you. In fact, mostly the audience have to be encouraged to have opinions. In my experience, there are, by default, two types of Maestro audience: audiences who give mostly threes (everything is average), and audiences who give mostly fives (everything is great), and this won't depend on the quality of the scenes themeselves. The first elimination is tough for everyone, and I bet that instances of audiences thinking "oh great, I'm glad Matt's out, he was having a real shitter tonight" are much rarer than we imagine.

Jesse Slayter & Stratus – Combo (Micetro Remix)

                We are always happy to see producers from Boston out here killing it! Especially when they are using some heavy bass! Check out this remix by Micetro as he takes you on a journey from melodic to down right dirty with this one!

Follow Micetro (Boston)

Facebook: Facebook.com/MicetroMusic

Twitter: @Micetro_

Soundcloud: